Lisa Cheng

A short interview with Lisa Cheng, one of Vision Personal Training Drummoyne's star members. An inspirational, fulltime working mother! If this doesn't inspire you to change your lifestyle, then nothing will.

What was the state of your health and fitness when you started and what affect was this having on your life?

"I had always thought of myself as a healthy person, walking for exercise, cooking most of my meals at home and opting to make my own lunches most days for work which were usually salad based but somehow I got to a point in December 2012 where I was about 20kgs overweight, unfit and desperately unhappy. When I look back I actually had stopped being healthy and perhaps even stopped caring about it. My portion sizes had slowly increased, I was eating way to much sugar and processed food, wasn't exercising at all and I was drinking 6 nights out of 7. I made excuses for my bad lifestyle choices, most of them related to lack of time, working too much in a job I hated, socialising with a bunch of very unhealthy work colleagues and spending whatever time left being a mum to my then three year old daughter. It was exhausting. Something had to give and it was my health and wellbeing. At the same time a lifelong friend of mine had signed up to Vision Personal Training at Drummoyne and had lost close to 15 kilos - she looked amazing! Angela and I had a pretty similar approach to things, certainly our work life balance was the same and we'd both tried every diet known to humankind, realising short-lived success. I wanted to look good, to feel good about myself and to be able to buy nice clothes (I love clothes, just ask my friends). I said to myself, if she could do it, I could too. So I made an appointment and signed up. Even after signing up I was riddled with self-doubt and excuses - I didn't know if I could do it, it was going to demand a lot of my time, what would my family think, how would I say no to my colleagues and it wasn't cheap; you name it I found a reason why I shouldn't do it. But my unhappiness outweighed my excuses and on the 14th January 2014 when I sat down with my trainer Taylor for my very first goal session, I made a commitment to myself that I would hand myself over to him - I had no belief in myself but he believed in me and I made a promise to myself that I would use his belief to motivate me until I could find my own. I had to confront some pretty scary personal demons, it wasn't' easy".

                                                                                                                                      What did you find was the most useful tool at Vision?

"For me it wasn't anyone one tool, it was the combination of a very personalised approach - this was about me and my goals, I was being asked what I wanted out of this not being told. I also had the support of the Vision Food Diary and App which was invaluable to me in planning my days' eating and exercise - I did this religiously and it was a pretty important part of achieving my goal.  I also had my trainer, who was amazing - he made me accountable, didn't settle for my excuses and challenged me every time I thought I couldn't do something. I couldn't run for 2 minutes on the treadmill without stopping and cursing.....on Sunday I am running my second Blackmore's 9km and running is part of my total fitness plan. I didn't have a great support network, so my trainer became that for me and it really made such a huge difference".

What impact has your new health and fitness had on your new life?

"It sounds cliché, but it really has changed my life forever. My health and wellbeing are now at the centre of my life. I have the planning thing, the meal prep, down pat so it's become habit. I have completely changed the way I think about myself and my approach to food and exercise. It has inspired me to make other changes in my life including a change in my career at age 45. I am studying health and wellness now and want to use my experience to inspire others. I am being a good role model for my daughter. And I have confidence in myself that I never had before. But I don't take it for granted, I still have my bad days and I have to work at it every day. I understand now that it is about progression and I completely get the goal setting thing. Goal setting has become a big part of my life now".

If you were to recommend Vision Personal Training Drummoyne to your friends, what would you say?

"I'd say do it.  Acknowledge all the reasons why you can't, won't, shouldn't, wouldn't but just do it. It works. You will have fun and meet some amazing, inspiring people along the way - including yourself".